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| - Energy Crew gets one star for having a really helpful contact person (Treigh). At every point in the process of booking our move, Treigh always responded immediately, and was quite reassuring concerning the special needs that we had (our new home is a strange victorian building, and has narrow stairwells with many corners. We knew we were going to need movers that could pulley/hoist some of our larger pieces of furniture up over the exterior balcony railing onto our second floor). I felt quite confident, based on his accommodating demeanor, that our move would go off flawlessly.
Then the actual day came. The movers that arrived hardly represented what I came to expect from Energy Crew in my dealings with Treigh. It was like they were from a completely different moving company.
- They arrived 45 minutes late.
- Before lifting a finger, they told me that their work order did not reflect that I was moving out of a two-storey apartment, and that I would have to pay them each an extra sum of money, in cash, if I expected them to retrieve boxes from the 2nd floor. I asked to see the work order, as I know I mentioned this detail to Treigh, and they refused to show it to me. Only when I telephoned Treigh on my cell phone while standing right in front of them did they seem to find the place on the work order where it indicated that my apartment was two storeys. They tried to get me to hang up the phone before telling Treigh that I was being asked to fork over extra cash. But I stayed on the phone and told him, which pissed them off to no end.
- Their pace was something akin to a trio of men who had just split a bottle of Valium. They hadn't even left the place we were moving out of by the time that they were (based on the estimate) supposed to be finished the entire move.
- Upon arrival at our new apartment (where my boyfriend was waiting to let them in), they informed him that they were not aware that they needed to bring pulleys/hoisting straps (Treigh told me this was no problem to accommodate). I placed another phonecall back to Treigh at the office, but there was no answer. So the movers proceeded to stand underneath the balcony in front of the apartment, holding large items (like a 3-seater sofa, and a wardrobe?!) up over their heads, arms fully extended and buckling, until someone up on the balcony (like my boyfriend) could bend down, grab them and drag them up. This added HOURS to the move.
- In the final stretch, my boyfriend was becoming frustrated with how generally slow and leaden the movers were. He started helping them to unload the truck himself, just to be done with the process. He worked so fast that eventually, the movers just stopped trying completely, and opted to hang around outside by their truck.
- All in all, the move took 4 hours longer than I was quoted in the estimate Treigh gave to me, which made the cost of the entire process go up by $400.00. When it was all over, the movers told my boyfriend that they wouldn't leave our new apartment until the full amount (including this extra cost that we weren't expecting) was paid for immediately by credit card over the phone. Then they told him, unsolicited, how much "other customers" usually tip them in cash (their suggestion was $75 each?!?)
It's sad that the charm and kindness of their point-person, Treigh, doesn't convey the reality of what you will get when you book with Energy Crew. Although he makes it seem like your big moving day is in good hands, what winds up happening is something that will cost you more money than you expected, and more time than you have.
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